Welcome to the Kitchen!—daily poetry and news from NorCal and Rattlesnake Press (poetry with fangs!). Read our DIARY, the cream-colored section at the left, for poets local and otherwise. Then scroll down our GREEN AND BLUE BULLETIN BOARDS on the right for more poet-phernalia. And please feel free to be a SNAKEPAL and send your work, events and releases to kathykieth@hotmail.com—see "Placating the Gorgon" in the FUCHSIA LINKS right below here for info. Carpe Viperidae!

it is all I can do
not to free it
it is all I can do not to let all the dark out

so the flood of light can enter and cleanse
the soul-bird
how I want to hear it sing.

_____________________

SLOW EXPERIENCE

It was I came to wisdom late. It took a fall or two.
I’d rather wait until a fantasy will let me through
to childhood when my life was new—
eager to jump at the first boo
of scary tales—not knowing what or who
it took to get my goat or leave its clue
for sorting out. I thought I knew
enough to simply brew
the truths together with a few
more lessons that left a small blue
memory-mark of loss that flew
right though my life, just starting to unglue.

___________________

REFRACTIVE

My fear talks to me in a different mirror,
haunting my image with his,
if indeed there is a gender.

His under-voice is a hum in my head
as though thinking to himself
but knowing I hear.

Whatever
is behind me in the glass
is behind him in the opposite glass.

Why two mirrors
for this? I think. And his eyes
respond. Must I console him? I wonder.

THE PHOTO THAT GOT AWAY

you thought to brave the sea
when you went toward
the great rock
growing out of it
beyond a cove in the distance
where force converged with force
and caught you—wave and undertow
in the exact moment you would arrive
with your camera-eye and innocence
off guard—
to see the other side of things . . .

a breaker found you first
you were surprised . . .
you almost drowned . . .

but here you are
alive
to tell
about
it

______________________

PERSPECTIVE

Walking out from the center of the mirror, I
face three directions and am at once at the
mercy of three compulsions. Thus am I split

into the three measurements of existence: I
am past, present, and future, and yet I am of
the mirror, that mothering eye that will not

diminish or release, but give only a glimpse
of illusion—that bordering reach that drifts
off the fathomless edge around me. If only

I can pull away at the exact moment, I will
escape the unguarded blink that must occur.
Even now, I can feel my three selves slip the

magnetic hold of my own fear and reluctance
that pull at the weakening center—if only I
am that brave—if only I can break my own
trance, and that of the mirror.

IN THE KITCHEN

My brave mother—
jamming the broom
down—again and again
into the waste-basket—
killing the mouse.

______________________

GETTING THE PICTURE

Racing through storm, illusion after illusion,
full of generous miseries and loyal regrets,
facing the contemptuous mirrors
with all you can muster,
facing the oblivious
truths of your soul
or are you hero
now, facing up,
measuring up,
standing up to yourself,
before it all goes false, before
it all vanishes—wipes you out as if
there is no regard to be had for the flicker
of life in your terrible eyes, oh desperate one.

IN THE MOVEMENT OF LIFE

The year you were dying.
a man stood on a vast plateau of ice

and looked out over the horizonless reaches
at the vast calmness and imagined your death

as his own. He knew nothing of you,
nor you of him.

This is a later recognition.
I give it to you as a gift of human connection:

that one could connect to another
and not be aware.

It is internal—
a thought one has when

there is a silence to fill with something more
than unnameable longing.

_______________________

Today's LittleNip:APPEASING THE GODSIs this enough for your ego?This praise we give is sincere.A hero is always neededin times like this, when all is lost,when anything is worth its cost.A hero is always needed.This praise we give is sincere.Is this enough for your ego?

_______________________

—Medusa, thanking Joyce Odam, whose first poem today triggered our new Seed of the Week: The Old Anguish. And about yesterday's photos of honeycombs, photographer Caschwa (Carl Bernard Schwartz) writes: "The past couple years we endeavored to remove hornet nests from our premises and were rewarded for our efforts by a large population of black widow spiders. This year we decided to just let the hornets be (they don’t assault us even when we are outside eating watermelon) and like magic, the spiders are gone!"

OUR BULLETIN BOARD ON THE KITCHEN WALL: Get Stoned on Medusa and Her Bad-Hair Days

Medusa: That moody Gorgon from whose head so many Snakes do sproingggg...

CARPE VIPERIDAE—Seize the Snake!

Snake Drawings are bySam the Snake Man

POETRY NOOZ— Local & Otherwise—

100K POETS FOR CHANGE 9/30

100 Thousand Poets [or more] for Change unite Sept. 30 to make their voices heard for a better world: see 100tpc.org/. Sac. Poetry Center celebrates that day with a reading/book launch beginning at noon. Be there!

OUR SEED OF THE WEEK—

...isThe Naked Truth.Click onPlacating the GorgonorCalliope's Closet(in theFUCHSIA LINKSat the top of Medusa) for info on ourSeeds of the Week (SOWs),and keep scrolling down this green board for different types of SOWs. But don't be shy: send poems/photos/art about other subjects, too, to kathykieth@hotmail.com/. No deadline on SOWS, and no need to be just a lurker...!

Need more SOWS?

For previous Seeds of the WeekandForms to Fiddle With, plus other cool stuff, scroll back up to the FUCHSIA LINKSand click onCalliope's Closet. (Wow! What a list of SOWS we have there!—several years' worth!)•••Go toWriter's Digestand find the poetry prompts at "Poetic Asides": www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides

•••The biannual onlineThe Prompt,by the way, publishes only poems written from prompts: promptlitmag.org/. See their Editor's Challenge, too!

FORMS WTH WHICH TO FIDDLE

For those of us who love pain...

[Scroll back up to theFUCHSIA LINKSand click onMedusa Mullsfor where we stand on poetry forms. And go toCalliope's Closet for a complete list of forms we've done in the past.]

MORE FOOD for the BRAIN

This is your brain on poetry...

Here are some items of note to get your brain a-stewin'. Or scroll back up to the FUCHSIA LINKS at the top of the blog for even more in On-Going Workshops/Retreats—not to mention spoons and ladles like Calliope's Closet and Publishing— all designed to stir up those poetry brain juices of yours!

SUBMIT, I SAY— SUBMIT!

Get your poetry out into the world—

Hint:Our FUCHSIA LINKonPublishingat the top of Medusa might help you get started with your submissions journey, and here are some other journals and contests that may be looking for YOU (you won't know unless you try).

•••Rattle is also looking for a poem written within a week of a public event that occurred within the last week. The chosen poems will appear every Sunday on their website.Selected poets will receive $25. To have your own poemconsidered for next week’s posting, submit it before midnight Friday PST. See www.rattle.com/poetry/submissions/guidelines (Scroll down to "Poets Respond".)

•••HEArt Online seeks outstanding writing and art that speaks to our mission: promoting the role of artists ashuman rights activists through public recognition of art asa vehicle for social reform. Please submit only unpublishedwork (except music & videos) that deals artistically withfighting discrimination and promoting social justice,addressing issues of sexuality, race, class, etc. See heartjournalonline.com

•••The Moore Time for Poetry series on Channel 17 Comcast/Surewest cable, AT&T U-verse Channel 99, or view online at www.accesssacramento.org and click on the "Watch Channel 17" button. First and Third Tuesdays at 10 p.m., First and Third Wednesdays at 2 p.m., First and Third Thursdays at 6 a.m. Hosted by Terry Moore. Call 916-208-7638 for more info.

Don't see your reading event listed on Medusa? That's probably because you didn't send it to us! We try to find every event in our area, but sometimes we miss, or even though we see an event listed as "on-going", we might not list it because we're not sure—maybe you've taken a week off. So keep us in the know, and we'll do our best to advertise for you. It's such a shame to invite poets to read for you, and then to fail to advertise them.

Want to learn about some Bay Area events? Debralee Pagan (debralee@astoundnet) publishes an e-newsletter called "Strictly East" (Poetry Past the Caldecott Tunnel)—email her for a free subscription. See also www.poetryflash.org.

•••Thurs. (12/14), 7-8:30pm: Winters Out Loud Poetry Open Mic, Berryessa Gap Wine Tasting, 15 Main St., Winters. Host: Deborah Shaw Hickerson.•••Sat. (12/23): Writers on the Air will not meet, due to its winter lay-off.

And there's always Luna's...

Every Thurs. night, 8pm: Be sure to check out Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe (1414 16th St., Sacramento) at least once in your life! 20 years of wild/crazy poetry, with featured readers and plenty of open mic—not to mention Art Luna's wonderful food and dandy libations! Readings are free, but a one-drink minimum purchase is appreciated. Click/pic for more about Luna's Cafe, or see www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEIRBEEqNtw for more about Poetry Unplugged. And get there early!

If you are an Amazon shopper, don't forget to make your purchase through smile.amazon.com. Designate the Sac. Poetry Center so that they may receive a 0.5% donations. (This doesn't change the price of the items.) A win for your non-profit!

AND NOW FOR MORE FUN—

HOT, HOT JOURNALS FULL OF HOT, HOT POETRY!

Online and otherwise—

Here are some journals and other publications that are local-ish (okay, there are some Bay Area ones in here, too). If we've left anybody out, let us know!

Plus, keep an eye on the college scene. Some of those journals accept submissions from non-students, though they usually have more limited (mostly annual) deadlines. Go to Medusa's Hot Links for Calaveras Station, Penumbra, Suisun Valley Review, Cosumnes River Journal, but be aware that college journals come and go in this time of tight funding.

...keep scrolling down this skinny blue box for NorCal online journals, publishers, more than 100 Hot Links and much, much more!

POETRY NOW

Get your poetry NOW—

Poetry Now is the quarterly journal from Sacramento Poetry Center. Click/pic for submissions guidelines.

EKPHRASIS

Ekphrastic writing done right—

Ekphrastic writing ain't easy, but this semi-annual journal, edited by Sacramento's Carol and Laverne Frith, shows us how it's done. (Art is supposed to be a springboard for ekphrastic poems, not just a description of the scene.) Click/pic to order your copies. The Friths also offer the Ekphrasis Prize every year.

BREVITIES

A Wee Wonder!

Joyce Odam's half-sized Brevities packs a wallop with its monthly collection of poets from around the country. E-mail Joyce about submissions at joyceofwords@gmail.com.

MUNYORI LITERARY JOURNAL

Joanne Hillhouse (photo by Andy Williams)

Click/pic to go to Munyori Literary Journal (online), edited by Sacramento's Emmanuel Sigauke and featuring writers from around the world.

SONG OF THE SAN JOAQUIN

Song of the San Joaquin (print), edited by Salida's Cleo Griffith, is a quarterly journal of the San Joaquin chapter of Calif. Fed. of Chaparral Poets, Inc. Subject matter is the Central Valley, whether you live there or not. There is a reading in Modesto to premier each issue. Click/pic for more.

BLUE MOON

Sacramento artist and writer Jennifer O'Neill Pickering is the featured artist in the latest issue (#8) of Blue Moon Literary and Art Review (print). Click/pic for more info. Available at Avid Reader in Sac. and Davis, and in Davis at Newsbeat, Konditorei Austrian Pastry Cafe, John Natsoulas Ctr. for the Arts, Rominger West Winery.

MANZANITA WRITERS PRESS

Manzanita Writers sponsors publications, workshops and readings in Calaveras County under the guiding hand of Monika Rose, including their weekly radio program for writers (manzapress.com/radiotv). Click/pic for more.

GINOSKO

POETRY FLASH

Literary Review and Calendar

The venerable Poetry Flash (online, print), edited and published for a very long time by Joyce Jenkins, is the go-to publication for the Bay Area and much of NorCal. Click/pic for a look-see.

TEA PARTY (OAKLAND)

No, not THAT tea party...

Here's a lively print publication out of Oakland... Click/pic for more.

LATEST CANARY!

Click/pic for the latest issue of Canary, an online literary/poetry journal of the environmental crisis, pub. by Hip Pocket Press. The Entrekins live in Orinda now, but they used to live in Grass Valley. HP Press also publishes books and the online Sisyphus.

POEMS-FOR-ALL

The wee-est of books with plenty of punch!

Richard Hansen's tiny Poems-for-Allare published out of San Diego now. Click/pic for more.

ABOUT THE SWAN

What's the Latest?

Click pic for what's new fromSwan Scythe Press.

R.L. CROW

Bill Gainer's R.L. Crow Publications has a distinguished history of publishing distinguished poets. Click/pic to check them out. R.L. Crow also sponsors The Magnet Project—beautiful square magnets with poems from local poets (art design by Richard Hansen). These are free; look for them at The Book Collector or from Bill or Richard.

SIX FT. SWELLS

Todd Cirillo, Julie ValinandMatt Amottpublish After Hours Poetry of their own and others in occasional anthologies and other books. Click/pic for more.

KOOL STUFF FROM KAMINI

Kamini is a long way away, but they do publish locals likeAnnie Menebrokerand other Snake Pals. Click/pic for their latest.

PRESA PRESS

Presa Press publishes books and magazines, including Presa Magazine, focusing on the lively small press poets—including many Snake Pals from around the country. Click/pic for more.

LATEST FROM LUMMOX

Click/pic for what's new from R.D. Armstrong's Lummox!

______________________

MEDUSA'S CLASSIFIEDS

Send us your "classifieds" (these are whatever YOU think they are...)!

WANT TO FIND PAST POEMS THAT APPEARED ON MK?Once posted, our poems remain in the cybersphere forever and ever. (Scary!—Medusa's past lives after her.) To find them, go to the white search bar at the tippy-top left-hand corner of MK, next to the red letter (is that an "e" or a "b"?), and type in the poet's name (be sure you have the correct spelling, initials, etc.). Voilà!—every post in which that name appears will show up right there on the blog! Or, if you know the date the poem was posted, we also have —> —>